| | |  | Books | Home » » » » The Politics of the Veil (Public Square) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | In 2004, the French government instituted a ban on the wearing of "conspicuous signs" of religious affiliation in public schools. Though the ban applies to everyone, it is aimed at Muslim girls wearing headscarves. Proponents of the law insist it upholds France's values of secular liberalism and regard the headscarf as symbolic of Islam's resistance to modernity. The Politics of the Veil is an explosive refutation of this view, one that bears important implications for us all. Joan Wallach Scott, the renowned pioneer of gender studies, argues that the law is symptomatic of France's failure to integrate its former colonial subjects as full citizens. She examines the long history of racism behind the law as well as the ideological barriers thrown up against Muslim assimilation. She emphasizes the conflicting approaches to sexuality that lie at the heart of the debate--how French supporters of the ban view sexual openness as the standard for normalcy, emancipation, and individuality, and the sexual modesty implicit in the headscarf as proof that Muslims can never become fully French. Scott maintains that the law, far from reconciling religious and ethnic differences, only exacerbates them. She shows how the insistence on homogeneity is no longer feasible for France--or the West in general--and how it creates the very "clash of civilizations" said to be at the root of these tensions. The Politics of the Veil calls for a new vision of community where common ground is found amid our differences, and where the embracing of diversity--not its suppression--is recognized as the best path to social harmony. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Joan Wallach Scott | | Hardcover:
| 224 pages | | Publisher:
| Princeton University Press | | Publication Date:
| September 17, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0691125430 | | Product Length:
| 8.82 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.84 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.78 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.84 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.59 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.87 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.84 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 3 reviews |
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15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Paradoxes of Religion and SecularismJan 07, 2009
By K. Nishikawa
Joan W. Scott's book on the headscarf controversies (*affaires des foulards*) in France over the past two decades is one of the best works of social theory that I have read in recent years. In clear, accessible prose, Scott lays out an incisive analysis of the motivations for and consequences of the headscarf ban in French public schools. Furthermore, although the controversies constitute a relatively recent phenomenon, Scott (a historian by training) does an admirable job of contextualizing the debate by presenting the colonial, religious, and philosophical sources of French national identity. The result is a nuanced and compelling study of contemporary French society and the supposed "threat" posed to it by Muslim immigrants.
The great virtue of this book is its analysis of the paradoxes of religion and secularism that have been revealed by the French government's prohibition of the headscarf (strategically referred to as the more oppressive-sounding "veil" by supporters) in school. In Scott's careful attention to media coverage of the controversies and the political and philosophical discourses of pro-ban figures, she reveals a surprising degree of chauvinism in the political ideals of French universalism; of intolerance in France's lauded defense of "abstract individualism" as the basis for citizenship; and of patriarchal authority in certain French feminists' insistence that any wearing of the "veil" is inherently oppressive and degrading of females. In short, where pro-ban figures (from conservative politicians to feminist intellectuals) rail against the intolerance, "backwardness," and authoritarian nature of global Islam (as symbolized by the "veil"), Scott notes a fearful trend toward "absolutist secularism" and an uncompromisingly hostile stance toward cultural difference (where *intranational* [within France] social, class, and ethnic/racial differences are elided by "clash of civilizations" discourse -- Western secularism pit against global Islam).
On the other hand, opponents of the ban as well as some heardscarf-wearing girls (through quoted testimony) reveal the extent to which the "veil" actually serves a strategic, even empowering, purpose in everyday life: a way for young women to negotiate their gender, spiritual, and political identities in woefully underfunded schools in the poorest sections of major French cities. In other words, in already stigmatizing environments, young women wear headscarves as a means of expressing fidelity to cultural traditions, signaling attachment to their family, and/or asserting individual dignity through spiritual development. In all cases, the headscarf is a symbol of survival and social well-being -- the very things the state claims to protect under its obtuse, heavy-handed ban.
*The Politics of the Veil* does more than outline the French government's hypocrisy in dealing with social and religious minorities. It is a well-written, well-argued case for the need to recognize the interdependence of religion and secularism in Western democracies. I recommend this book highly to scholars and general readers of modern Europe, contemporary politics, and social and cultural theory.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Excellent historical review!Jan 15, 2011
By a hakim
Read this book for a class recently (Politics of Immigration) and it really detailed historically, France's position on immigration and assimilation. Excellent read!
8 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 This woman lives in an ivory towerMar 16, 2011
By John W. Runyan III
"A thoughtful reader"
Joan Wallach Scott's thesis is that banning the veil in French schools has only exacerbated the differences and tensions between the French Muslim and French non-Muslim populations. I think she makes a legitimate argument for this contention.
However in the process of making her case, she manages to systematically bash the French in general for being racist, sexist, colonialist, elitist and probably some other -"ists" I can't remember. No one is spared, neither government officials, nor teachers, nor politicians, nor intellectuals, nor feminists, nor the guys she overheard in the post office.
Having lived in an Islamist state doesn't impress her either. Check out this passage from page 163:
"Chahdortt Djavann, whose claim to expertise was her own experience in Iran, offered sensationist tales of women't lack of freedom in Muslim countries (maybe because they are true?)...Djavann stated not only that women were oppressed in "Islamic societies" (her quotes), but also (in terms of colonial attitudes I described in chapter 2) that the separation of the sexes necessarily gave rise to rape and prostitution."
Okay not only does she dismiss a woman with real experience living in a theocracy, but also accuses an Iranian woman of having colonial attitudes. Maybe if this woman had read about living in Iran in a journal instead of actually having lived there she would have gotten more respect, but oh wait, what am i saying, she blows off all the French intellectuals too.
Scott never even directly acknowledges (that I could tell) that assimilation is a problem or even desirable. She ends up the book by saying something to the effect that the French need to find a better way to negotiate "being-in-common", whatever that means.
I would ask her, specifically what she would have the French do?
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